Spain: Scrum-half Guillaume Rouet furious with Spanish federation

In a no-holds-barred interview with Midi-Olympique, Spain scrum-half Guillaume Rouet, who has twice now been denied a World Cup shot by player irregularities, could not contain his fury at what he sees as rank incompetence by his union.

Saying that he and several team-mates were now carrying the can twice for maladministration by the Spanish federation, Rouet also scarcely contained his dismay at the actions of Gavin van den Berg, who supposedly forged his passport to satisfy residency eligibility criteria – how complicit the federation was in this is not yet clear.

“We are dejected and very upset,” said Rouet.

“For many of us, it’s happened twice in a row. We qualified on the ground. The bodies at the top have not done their job. It is infuriating, because it is something that we do not control and it is we who suffer the consequences. There is a lot of anger.

“We’re all pretty dejected. We will call each other in the coming hours, but I think they will be in the same state of mind as me, namely, very angry.

“For many of those who experienced it four years ago, it was also their last chance to participate in a World Cup, because age makes it so. It is very sad. We did not lose on the ground, where we did the work. The leaders, unfortunately, no. I am also worried about future generations.”

” It happens once, we can say “it’s a little amateurish, they are not too used to it”.. There, the leaders were warned of what might happen. We see that they have not learned from their mistakes. It’s infuriating.

Asked whether he had had contact with Van den Berg, Rouet was succinct.

“I think it is better not. He was aware of the shenanigans. I don’t want his apology. Either way, the damage is done.”

Spanish rugby’s image was